Upcoming Events
One City, One Book: Kathryn Ma's The Chinese Groove with Natalie Baszile
Saturday May 4 · 2pm
Koret Auditorium, Main Library· 100 Larkin Street SF, CA 94102
sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
For One City, One Book's main event, former Litquake board member Kathryn Ma discusses her book, The Chinese Groove, the story of 18-year-old Shelley's journey from China's Yunnan Province to San Francisco, where he confronts familial discord, cultural adaptation and personal aspirations while leaning on the notion of the "Chinese groove" to navigate his new reality. Ma will be in conversation with another former Litquake board member Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy. FREE
Saturday May 4 · 2pm
Koret Auditorium, Main Library· 100 Larkin Street SF, CA 94102
sponsored by Friends of the San Francisco Public Library
For One City, One Book's main event, former Litquake board member Kathryn Ma discusses her book, The Chinese Groove, the story of 18-year-old Shelley's journey from China's Yunnan Province to San Francisco, where he confronts familial discord, cultural adaptation and personal aspirations while leaning on the notion of the "Chinese groove" to navigate his new reality. Ma will be in conversation with another former Litquake board member Natalie Baszile, author of Queen Sugar and We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy. FREE
Oakland Arts & Lectures: Dr. Darcie Little Badger w/ Tommy Orange
Sunday May 5 · 3pm
Oakstop · 1723 Broadway Street, Oakland, CA 94612
co-presented by Oakland Arts and Lectures & Sistah Scifi
Join us for Dr. Darcie Little Badger in conversation with Tommy Orange, discussing their newest novels, Sheine Lende and Wandering Stars, respectively. Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer whose critically acclaimed fantasy writing has received the Newbery Honor, was a LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Tommy Orange was born and raised in Oakland, California. His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award.
You will have the opportunity to win signed copies of Sheine Lende signed by Dr. Darcie Little Badger or Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange thanks to the support of the City of Oakland. Attendees must be present to win. FREE
Sunday May 5 · 3pm
Oakstop · 1723 Broadway Street, Oakland, CA 94612
co-presented by Oakland Arts and Lectures & Sistah Scifi
Join us for Dr. Darcie Little Badger in conversation with Tommy Orange, discussing their newest novels, Sheine Lende and Wandering Stars, respectively. Little Badger is a Lipan Apache writer whose critically acclaimed fantasy writing has received the Newbery Honor, was a LA Times Book Prize Finalist, and was longlisted for the National Book Award. An enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, Tommy Orange was born and raised in Oakland, California. His first book, There There, was a finalist for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize and received the 2019 American Book Award.
You will have the opportunity to win signed copies of Sheine Lende signed by Dr. Darcie Little Badger or Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange thanks to the support of the City of Oakland. Attendees must be present to win. FREE
Launch Party Celebrating R.O. Kwon's Exhibit
Monday May 20 · 7pm
Verdi Club · 2424 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110
co-presented by Green Apple Books
Join us for the launch party celebrating R.O. Kwon's highly-anticipated second novel, EXHIBIT! Kwon will be joined in-conversation by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Meet us at the historic Verdi Club for a night of literary splendor. VIP tickets available for meet-and-greet preparty with Kwon plus a copy of the book, a drink ticket, and more. FREE for students, $5-$50
Monday May 20 · 7pm
Verdi Club · 2424 Mariposa St, San Francisco, CA 94110
co-presented by Green Apple Books
Join us for the launch party celebrating R.O. Kwon's highly-anticipated second novel, EXHIBIT! Kwon will be joined in-conversation by Ingrid Rojas Contreras. Meet us at the historic Verdi Club for a night of literary splendor. VIP tickets available for meet-and-greet preparty with Kwon plus a copy of the book, a drink ticket, and more. FREE for students, $5-$50
SOROCHE Live at The Brava
June 6, 2024 · 7pm
The Brava Theater · 2781 24th St., San Francisco
co-presented by Center for the Art of Translation/Two Lines Press
Two Lines Press and Cuentero Productions present Soroche, a haunting multimedia performance. Adapted from the short story by award-winning Ecuadorian writer Mónica Ojeda published in Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories by Two Lines Press, Soroche depicts the effects of a leaked sex tape, filtered through the dizzying lens of altitude sickness. The cinematic sound design, created by Cuentero Productions to accompany the performance, immerses the audience in the suffocating, malignant air of the mountains while giving voice to Mónica Ojeda’s harrowing observations of abject humiliation and self-loathing. The performance will be followed by a conversation between translators Sarah Booker and Noelle de la Paz and Sarah Coolidge, editor of Through the Night Like a Snake. $10-25
June 6, 2024 · 7pm
The Brava Theater · 2781 24th St., San Francisco
co-presented by Center for the Art of Translation/Two Lines Press
Two Lines Press and Cuentero Productions present Soroche, a haunting multimedia performance. Adapted from the short story by award-winning Ecuadorian writer Mónica Ojeda published in Through the Night Like a Snake: Latin American Horror Stories by Two Lines Press, Soroche depicts the effects of a leaked sex tape, filtered through the dizzying lens of altitude sickness. The cinematic sound design, created by Cuentero Productions to accompany the performance, immerses the audience in the suffocating, malignant air of the mountains while giving voice to Mónica Ojeda’s harrowing observations of abject humiliation and self-loathing. The performance will be followed by a conversation between translators Sarah Booker and Noelle de la Paz and Sarah Coolidge, editor of Through the Night Like a Snake. $10-25
SongWriter Live with Susan Orlean and Diana Gameros
Thursday June 13 · 7pm
The Commons · 2601 Mariposa St San Francisco, CA 94110
co-presented by KQED
Litquake and KQED Live present a night with SongWriter, a podcast that turns stories into songs (featured guests include Questlove, Joyce Carol Oates, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Roxane Gay, and Craig Finn of The Hold Steady).
In this special live recording event, bestselling author Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief, The Library Book) will share a story from her recent collection On Animals, and local songwriter Diana Gameros will play a brand new song written in response. SongWriter’s creator Ben Arthur will host, and engage the artists in a conversation with UC Berkeley researcher Laura Simone Lewis on animal intelligence. $29
Thursday June 13 · 7pm
The Commons · 2601 Mariposa St San Francisco, CA 94110
co-presented by KQED
Litquake and KQED Live present a night with SongWriter, a podcast that turns stories into songs (featured guests include Questlove, Joyce Carol Oates, David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Roxane Gay, and Craig Finn of The Hold Steady).
In this special live recording event, bestselling author Susan Orlean (The Orchid Thief, The Library Book) will share a story from her recent collection On Animals, and local songwriter Diana Gameros will play a brand new song written in response. SongWriter’s creator Ben Arthur will host, and engage the artists in a conversation with UC Berkeley researcher Laura Simone Lewis on animal intelligence. $29
How They Did It: Biographical Fiction
Sunday June 23 · 3pm
Page Street San Francisco · 297 Page St San Francisco, CA 94102
co-presented by LitCamp
Novelist Louisa Treger once called biographical fiction "the lie through with truth can emerge." In the third of our "How They Did It" series, we'll hear from four talented novelists who have blended fact with their fiction, with dazzling results. Novelist Jasmin Darznik, who has written biographical fiction about Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad and photographer Dorothea Lange, will moderate a wide-ranging conversation with novelists Karen Joy Fowler (author of the Booker longlisted Booth), Dawn Tripp (author of national bestseller Georgia and her latest novel, Jackie), and Gail Tsukiyama (author of Bright Star, about the Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong). $25
Sunday June 23 · 3pm
Page Street San Francisco · 297 Page St San Francisco, CA 94102
co-presented by LitCamp
Novelist Louisa Treger once called biographical fiction "the lie through with truth can emerge." In the third of our "How They Did It" series, we'll hear from four talented novelists who have blended fact with their fiction, with dazzling results. Novelist Jasmin Darznik, who has written biographical fiction about Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad and photographer Dorothea Lange, will moderate a wide-ranging conversation with novelists Karen Joy Fowler (author of the Booker longlisted Booth), Dawn Tripp (author of national bestseller Georgia and her latest novel, Jackie), and Gail Tsukiyama (author of Bright Star, about the Hollywood trailblazer Anna May Wong). $25
Our Mission
Litquake’s diverse live programs are created with the aim of inspiring critical engagement with the key issues of the day, bringing people together around the common humanity encapsulated in literature, and perpetuating a sense of literary community, as well as a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing.
Litquake’s diverse live programs are created with the aim of inspiring critical engagement with the key issues of the day, bringing people together around the common humanity encapsulated in literature, and perpetuating a sense of literary community, as well as a vibrant forum for Bay Area writing.